Three and a half million public documents associated with the investigation into the expansive sex trafficking ring of Jeffrey Epstein stopped in Omaha, Nebraska this week, prompting visits from two local candidates for federal office—candidate for US Senate Dan Osborn and NE-02 congressional candidate Denise Powell.
The entire Epstein record, micro-printed for space and bound into dozens of books, lined one wall of a large box truck—named the “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile”—while the adjacent wall presented five paintings by Maria Farmer, a Kentucky-native visual artist who provided the first criminal complaint against Epstein to the FBI in 1996.
Osborn toured the bookmobile on Sunday, Sept. 13, while it was parked outside of Brazen Head Pub. Powell toured the bus the following day as it parked outside of the downtown t-shirt and novelty store Raygun.
Prior to each visit, both candidates met with survivors of Epstein’s trafficking operation, including Sharlene Rochard, a direct victim of Epstein’s, and Sky and Amanda Roberts, the brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Roberts Giuffre—who is regarded as one of the most prominent survivors of Epstein. The Roberts’ are also board members of SOAR—a nonprofit supporting victims of sex trafficking and domestic abuse founded by Giuffre in 2015.
Giuffre died by suicide in 2025 at the age of 41. Her 400-page memoir, Nobody’s Girl, was published posthumously the same year, last October. Following the event with Powell, Sky and Amanda read excerpts from the book and took questions from the a small audience of about 30 people inside Raygun.
The Bookmobile was first unveiled in DC this summer. Its Omaha visit follows its inaugural roadtrip visit in Dallas, Texas, and will be followed by a series of stops across Iowa, and additional states to be announced.
The bus serves as an on-the-road version of a similar Reading Room pop-up exhibit which was set up in New York City and DC earlier this summer and attracted more than 15,000 visitors to see the 17,000 pounds of Epstein records. The goal of the effort, led by the nonprofit pair DEFIANCE.org and the Institute for Primary Facts, is to ensure the Epstein records are not forgotten while calling for increased transparency and accountability for perpetrators.
‘We’ve got to do better’
“The first emotion that comes to me is anger,” Osborn told reporters following his tour. “When I’m elected into the US Senate, I will make justice for Epstein’s victims a priority. It’s about accountability… Our government has fallen short, way short. We’ve got to do better as a nation.”
Accountability, to Osborn, means “a lot of people in jail.” The former union leader from Omaha said this prescription applies to “everybody” no matter their wealth, status, or political office.
“If you were trafficking young women, or took part in rape and sexual abuse, you should be in jail,” said Osborn. “From the top office down to the bottom office. Anybody involved should definitely be tried.”
Amanda Roberts thanked Osborn for his “willingness to sit and listen,” adding this the Senate candidate’s openness is sparse among current elected leadership in Washington.
“We need more men like you to stand up with women and fight,” said Sky Roberts. “I think that’s something that we don’t find enough.”
“This is an amazing human right here. Amazing,” Rochard said, pointing to Osborn. “We need leaders like Mr. Osborn. We need leaders like you.”
‘Victims still haven’t seen justice’
Following her tour, Powell called the mobile exhibit “incredibly powerful” and a “reminder that we have yet to see justice for the victims of all these heinous crimes.”
“We should all be horrified. We should all be demanding more. I’m angry, honestly,” said Powell, flanked by the same group of survivors. “I have a 16-year-old daughter. These people deserve better. We should be doing everything in our power to make sure that something like this never happens again.”
The Women Who Run PAC founder turned congressional hopeful said Congress needs to take more action to achieve justice for the victims, “instead of being on yet another vacation. They should be in DC doing the work to get justice for these survivors.”
Powell also remarked at how far back the investigation timeline stretched—first starting in 1987 when Trump met Epstein.
“And here we are, the victims still haven’t seen justice,” she said, then referencing a Pew Research Study finding over 80% of Americans believe elected officials don’t care what people like them think.
“It’s because of stuff like this,” Powell surmised. “How are we supposed to trust the government to protect us, to protect our children, to protect women and families when we have all of this overwhelming evidence and we haven’t done anything with it?”
“We need elected officials that actually care about children, the next generation, and survivors. That’s why we’re here,” said Rochard. “The onus shouldn’t be on the survivors. It really should be on the perpetrators. We need people like [Denise Powell] in Congress.”
Amanda Roberts drew a line between the Epstein investigation and dysfunction in Washington, calling it “the same corruption that we’re speaking about.”
“It’s the same level of abuse. The same people who have decided to abuse children and get away with it. The same people that say you don’t get to buy groceries, you don’t get to afford gas,” she said. “We’re fighting the same beast… It’s about the club. It’s the club that we are up against as average American citizens every single day.”
When asked about the issue’s relevance to the competitive NE-02 race, Powell said “most voters are really worried about just getting by right now, keeping their head above water.”
“But one thing that is consistent: Nebraskans care about family and community. That’s why it’s important to keep this on the front burner,” Powell concluded. “Voters want to know that the perpetrators of these crimes will be held accountable for their actions.”
Missing in action
Both opponents of Osborn and Powell, incumbent US Sen. Pete Ricketts and Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding, both Republicans, did not visit the Epstein Bookmobile during its Omaha stop.
Rochard personally invited Ricketts to attend during Osborn’s visit, saying the topic is not “Republican or Democratic. This is a human issue.”
Osborn criticized Ricketts’ absence and his past statement that investigating Epstein and bringing justice to those involved was a “low priority.”
“He should be embarrassed for his actions in saying that it wasn’t a priority for them,” said Osborn. “These are human beings that deserve justice. That’s the American way, that’s the way we’ve all lived our lives, and there needs to be accountability at every level.”
For more information on the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile, visit trumpepsteinbookmobile.com.
Nebraska’s general election is set for Nov. 3.
